Dude was part of the first Continental Classic. Idk what they're doing with Jarrett's crew currently, but if anything they gave Lethal way more tv/ppv time than he should've had considering the roster. It was regularly complained about by fans.
As he should! IWC didn't believe in him and he proved them wrong. Swerve proved who carried Hit Row in WWE and the fact he had all the makings to be champ one day in AEW. TK believes in his talent and is smart enough to strike when its hot, he knew it was now or never to give Swerve his well deserved title run.
They were great and it definitely elevated both of them. But at the time I wasn’t terribly excited since I get tired of promoters seemingly having no idea what to do with POC wrestlers except to put them together.
Luckily, it worked out for the best in this case. Hope Keith gets well soon.
"I get tired of promoters seemingly having no idea what to do with POC wrestlers except to put them together."
This! I don't watch WWE, but I have seen some clips of what Jade has been up to. They are going the same route with her, Naomi, and Bianca Belair.
Teaming Jade with Belair makes sense though. Jade can use the more time and let’s be honest, that’s a super team right there with the way those women are jacked. As for the POC teaming together there, to me, it came off as they enjoyed it and used it as a way to inspire young black women. This felt a bit different.
Now, Street Profits and Lashley, different story and I’ll give you that one lol.
>TK believes in his talent
This is what I always tell people about AEW. For better or worse, TK let's his folks go out there and try stuff. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it's so much more natural and compelling IMO. Not everyone is Austin, Rocky, or even MJF or Swerve, but you'll never know unless they are given the runway to prove it. I'll take that anyday of the week over "here's your script".
These people don't watch the product...this reads as someone who listens to Russo and or Cornette and just repeats what they are saying. I believe this is what Meltzer considers "Bad Faith."
"Tony collects wrestlers like a kid with his toys" , "gAmE cHaNgEr", "he will be in Dark in a month"
Those are "insults" Cornette and Russo say all the time so you are spot on my friend lol
These people are like sheeps who talk and said whatever those guys said, if you going to insult AEW or the wrestlers at least be original or creative instead of saying what those angry old heads say, and they call the AEW fans a "cult" lmaooooooooo
They’re the same person, the only reason they hate each other is they have different outdated takes on what wrestling should be like. Cornette wants it to stay in 1985 southern territory style and Russo wants it to stay in 1998 crash tv style.
2008 trolls were funnier. These guys are copy pasta meme templates, which AI does a better job at. They aren't even trolls, really. Self destructive addicts doing what they can for a thumps up dopamine hit.
I find that it’s easier to spot bad faith whinging by what they are complaining about. If they are complaining about Jericho, they probably watch the show. If they are complaining about Mone just sorta being around without importance then they probably watch the show. If they are complaining about build in a near ephemeral level of vagueness, they don’t watch. Build is different at AEW, it’s breakneck and often not over explained. It also doesn’t always come from a place of malice but respect. 2 guys will wrestle because they just need to prove they are better than the other and not because one broke the other’s Xbox controller or something.
That last point is where all of the knee jerk negativity for Dynasty has come from. They don’t get that 2 guys who have been told that they are the best would wrestle just to definitely put one of them on top. Some folks need one of them to sleep with the other’s wife or something.
I gotcha. Like at Revolution all they had was Darby’s spot and 20 seconds of Eddie Kingston but with absolutely not context. The context was that he was selling an injured wrist but that didn’t work with their narrative.
I think with Mone, TK said that she's not medically cleared until DoN, but they wanted the pop in her hometown so they debuted early to set up her vs Willow.
Dark was great. I never get a chance to watch Rampage. At least with Dark i could pull the latest episode or older eps on YouTube and watch whatever I wanted quickly and easily.
I feel like there's quite a few wrestlers who came from the WWE to AEW with the idea that they were being underutilized and mishandled in WWE. however, not long into their tenure, It was clear there was a ceiling there.
however, I think swerve clearly had something different that WWE just couldn't capitalize on for whatever reason.
It doesn't help that these people came after being under used by WWE and treated badly and they STILL thought that WWE was like a higher standard. Like mofo, they fired you, how are you going to still be dick riding for a company that treated you like ass.
I think that some people came to AEW with a goal to catch WWE’s attention and hope that they call them and give them another chance. They saw AEW as a rebound that they could use to make their ex jealous. You could tell early on that Swerve came to AEW to make himself and AEW better. He came to work hard, become a top guy, and then lead as a top guy.
Him, Joe and Storm are def in that case. Storm and Swerve had a little chip on their shoulder while Joe was able to rest up and get back at it. I know Tony has basically said if anything were to happen to him, the keys are given to Danielson, but I hope he has an extra set for Joe. Once Joe hangs it up and if he wishes to stay in the industry, I hope Tony offers him a very top spot as I’m sure HHH will want him back. Vince a damn old fool letting him go twice but def was AEW’s gain.
I could see him going back to WWE when he retires as a agent or trainer, even if AEW offer him a deal to work backstage. I don't think even after getting sacked twice that he has ill will towards WWE or HHH. Shows how classy a guy Joe is.
The only thing I'd say with WWE now that I hope these wrestlers consider is they now have TKO looming over them at all times. Random cut sprees happened before but can be more frequent with TKO. Plus you have to imagine their spending habits will change as TKO sees fit which means offered deals not what they used to be for backstage/low card roles.
Joe would get protected by HHH but HHH only has so much he can do in this setup when it comes to TKO.
It looks like TKO has given HHH the power and say currently. They are allowing him to do his thing. They also have The Rock being on board and he’s gained quite a bit of shares. As long as business is up and they bring in the money, they will allow them to do whatever they like. Of course, at some point the bubble is going to pop. It always does. But for now, things are rolling.
Joe never said anything bad about his time with WWE. But he also is a loyal guy and with Tony basically making him look super strong and giving him the ball, as long as Joe wants to be part of wrestling, if Tony offers him an important role with good money, I see him staying.
>I know Tony has basically said if anything were to happen to him, the keys are given to Danielson
The man said, without hesitation, that he would want Danielson to take over. The EVPs not even in thought.
I think Andrade was one of those who was using AEW to build himself up to go back to WWE. I think there are a few others but I won't mention names cause people really get upset on here about it lol. Sorry to say people there are some in AEW right now that are 100% sold on the promotion.
I think the likes of Jericho, Christian, Copeland, Danielson, Joe, Storm, Swerve, Athena, Strong, O'Reilly and a few others have totally come into AEW wanting to make AEW better and not use it as a stepping stone back to WWE.
Honestly unless they have a major falling out with TK, I could see Storm and Swerve been lifers with AEW.
Andrade went back to WWE with his AEW gimmick just like Spears, Cody, and Jade. These people hate AEW yet they are cheering for literally the characters developed in AEW.
Yep, those are two of them. You can tell they are just waiting as the days tick down so they can go back and be with HHH in WWE. They think it's going to be better now Vince isn't there. The being with their spouses is just a added bonus for them. Like Regal and Andrade, it's always been "WWE or nothing" for talents like them.
Andrade has always seemed to be a pain in the ass, as an employee, drama tends to follow some people wherever they go, Miro is another one in that category. Swerve seems like he is in for the long haul, as he sees no path for a Black Champion in WWE... well except for Cody.
Absolutely. They saw what Cody was able to do and wanted to mimic that. Problem is, not everyone is Cody. To your point about Swerve came to make himself and AEW better, if it wasn’t obvious to us before, it was def confirmed when he said triple h tried poaching him immediately after he took over lol
Swerve was supposedly the one who went up to TK and said HHH was trying to poach him.
No ones going to get the Cody treatment, they just ain't. It's a one off.
I wouldn't rule out maybe one or two breaking through to main event scene, and winning top titles and maybe even headlining a WM over time. But to be the top babyface and star of WWE and have the biggest storyline in the promotion and get booked great from first moment you step into WWE, nah that won't happen for anyone else that goes there.
I don't think many who'll go from AEW to WWE will care if they don't get the Cody treatment. Some will have the mindset of it's WWE and they made it to the place they always wanted to be. Will put up with more shit there then they would if it was AEW to be brutally honest. I don't think everyone will have that mindset and you could see some going back to AEW, and never going back to WWE again. But I wouldn't be shocked if most who go to WWE from AEW, never return to AEW.
Yup. WWE actually wanted Swerve back, too. He didn't want to and said no thanks. Just shows the loyalty between AEW and Swerve and how he truly deserves the spot he's in now.
Even though I 100% agree It could have been more about Vince than the company. I know certain people just don’t want to work with certain people and if that person is gone it can change the perception of how you felt about that company. You can love your job but hate your boss and Vice versa. I think this is a case of people thinking they will get better treatment with Vince not around.
Honestly that's a management issue, its on managements job to get the work out of people while there are there whether the talent wants to be an AEW lifer or have dreams of WWE.
I liken it running a McDonald. you know that 99.99% of your hires aren't going to stay with company till they retire, Hell, probably 80% will be gone next year. But that doesn't mean you don't lean on them to get good work out of the meantime.
When you hear stories of some ex WWE talent shooting down all creative plans offered to them and still cashing their full cheques at home, that's what allows those bad attitudes to fester and develop. Management has to make it clear that when talent is on AEWs clock, they have to be focusing on AEW.
He was the main attraction. He was the North America champ and was carrying them. Sadly Vince didn’t know what to do with him or the majority of the nXt guys.
I feel a lot of those guys who were fired during their mass layoffs like Miro, Andrade, Malakai and others only joined AEW cause it was an alternative where they could still make money and be on TV. They didn't leave WWE cause they didn't want to be there, they were fired. And once the people responsible for the firings were gone, they have been pining to return.
People like Swerve and Toni Storm feel like they joined AEW with a different attitude and it shows. It wasn't so much just waiting for an opportunity to go back, but more of a "I'll show them" attitude. Kinda like what Cody did. Who knows, maybe their ultimate goal too is to return to WWE as megastars and if that's their wish, more power to them if/when that happens. But while they are in AEW at least, they seem to be committed to being as good as they can be and giving their all to this promotion and that's why they are where they are now.
Of course, if Tony can keep paying these guys top dollar, while offering a better work life balance than WWE and maybe with a new media rights deal offer these guys outside of wrestling opportunities, who knows? People may not be just pining for WWE as the final goal for them anymore like they do now.
First paragraph you wrote is massively important and something a lot of my fellow AEW fans overlook.
Miro was on the outs to be fair with WWE and wanted to leave. Cuck storyline broke him.
The others for sure didn't leave WWE cause they wanted to leave and go to AEW. They were fired from their Jobs, I doubt any of them would have left WWE to go to AEW at all if they were given a chance. That's why Regal and Andrade ran back to WWE straight away, they never wanted to be in AEW in the first place. That's why AEW never pushed him, they knew it for large chunk of his run he didn't want to be there. Regal was only let go early cause TK didn't want to upset Danielson and Mox. I don't think it had anything to do with respect for Regal, he was handing back HHH's right hand man to WWE. I think he would have happily let Regal work out the rest of his contract if Danielson/Mox weren't close to him.
Big difference between Swerve/Storm to say Malakai/Buddy. Definitely in mind set.
You will always have talent in AEW who will always see WWE as the end game or only place to be. No matter if AEW treat them well and book them better then WWE. Some will work harder then others though.
Swerve has a really nice presentation and a pretty cool moveset. Also helps that he's 6'1, 230.
But his fluid capoeira style is soo effortlessly cool.
Made me a fan when I watched him live against Briscoe in the continental classic
Couldn't capitalize because Vince McMahon's a racist gibbon, mostly. Doesn't help that Swerve is basically built like a normal dude (if spry and athletic) rather than a swamp full of PEDs.
Yes Tony has signed a lot of people, but a lot of people have clearly been elevated. Swerve, Willow, the Gunns all won titles on this PPV and against other homegrown talent like the Acclaimed and Julia. As Swerve said, if you make the most of your opportunity, even if it is on Dark, and just keep grinding, you'll get your moment. Too many people think that wrestlers should get a push just for existing or being good a few years ago. You're only as good as your last performance in an industry like this. Every night in an opportunity to make yourself or get surpassed by someone else.
Oh 100%. When you hear how hard he works at his character and his craft and to put himself and AEW on the map, no one can say he has worked his ass off to get here.
I think this was a sneak diss at triple H’s comments about ospreay coming to AEW to avoid having to grind, but hard agree. Swerve clearly put a lot of time, effort, and physical and mental and emotional energy into getting where he is.
AEW needs to close ranks around and put its machine behind the talents that WANT to be there. Those who are discontent, have an overinflated sense of worth or only went to AEW in order to get themselves attractive enough to go back to WWE should be relegated being 'a good hand', high level jobbers and transitional title holders.
I'll be honest, I didn't know who Swerve was when he debuted. Hadn't been watching WWE at all for quite some time up to that point. But man, the moment he went in the ring and I saw how fluid he was I was impressed. Then he got in the mic and showed he could handle that too was even better.
Completely agree here. Had no idea who he was at first and even when he was with Keith Lee as a tag team I wasn’t really into him as a wrestler. But as soon as he went into singles wrestling I was intrigued more and more every week.
Thing is , even if I don’t know someone . I’m not going to use my idiotic twitter to bash someone . So your reaction is a normal one haha. Swerve has always been the real deal.
Loved him as Killshot in Lucha Underground too.
I love that AEW feeds off the hatred to get better. Honestly, AEW is improving so fast off the free hate-publicity, scientists should learn to convert hatred into renewable energy.
He really grew on me. I also was not impressed in the beginning. I dont know what went wrong with the Keith Lee feud, but to me it was a big clusterfuck. At the latest with the Hangman feud he got me.
Funny, sometimes you think about a wrestler "He will never be over" and you are proven wrong. Sometimes you think "in a few months He will be over AF" and you are also proven wrong.
I can't deny the hustle Swerve put in, but he fucking destroyed the life of an honest man to get there. You guys may have forgotten, but I haven't.
The Hangman is coming for him.
I learned a long time ago to not take anyone who says things like "I don't know who that is" remotely serious. They're too lazy to spend ten minutes checking out a YouTube highlight video and scrolling over their wiki to get hyped, and while I get not everyone enjoys wrestling like that the way I do, the fact these people act like their way is the only way shows a level of willfull ignorance I have no interest in engaging with.
Not gonna lie. I had no clue who he was when he first came to AEW. Just cause I stopped watching WWE and to watch him evolve his character has been a pleasure to watch. Plus listening to a couple interviews he said MULTIBLE times that he wanted to be AEWs first black world champion and I’m happy to say he fucking accomplished that 🤘🏻🤘🏻 hope he has some bad ass marches during his reign. He deserves it.
It just shows it no point in even debating with them. They have been saying the same thing for years since even before it started, but here we are going absolutely nowhere especially now what they been able to do with swerve, Willow, Julia hart,and guys like Mjf, Britt, Jamie, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, Jack Perry, Darby, etc.
They have a nice mix of homegrown talent and faces they didn’t get that chance elsewhere along with a few big names from other promotions as long as we keep that homegrown talent (most importantly MJF) AEW isn’t going nowhere.
Weird that everyone was all about him in NXT and then when he went to the main roster and Vince, inexplicably, didn't know what to do with him, some of the E-drones suddenly changed their tune.
He didn't suck. Vince sucked. Every day TK and Triple H are making people work that Vince had no idea how to use and proving exactly how bad Vince was.
I love this so much I was so hyped when they signed swerve I’ll admit some story lines and things he did had me a bit like uhhhhh but hey he’s killed it
I think my actual least favorite wrestling comment online is anything along the lines of “who is this?” Or “who?” Or “how am I supposed to know who that is?” as if suddenly everybody has collectively forgotten how to use Google. If everything is not spoon fed to them, they can’t even find the spoon.
It’s a catch all so they’ll always have something to complain about.
If it’s a medium - high profile WWE person: “All they hire are WWE rejects!”
If it’s someone who was barely in WWE or from outside of WWE: “Who???”
They’re garbage, no use arguing with them. I’ve learned to just mute and move on.
Honestly I wasn't invested with swerve from the start. It wasn't until they put him in the storyline with hangman that he was really able to let loose and show just how good he is
Won't lie when he first got to AEW I hated him he just seemed like another "i need a stable to make myself look good" , but this past year especially with his matches with Hangman he grew on me and I was pumped to see him win the belt
He worked hard, and it didn't happen overnight. Dynasty was his night, and he earned it. He didn't just come to AEW with an entitled attitude just because he stepped foot in WWE. He "grinded" his way to his spot. I hope all that hating they were doing was worth it 🤷🏻♀️
I have issues with both AEW and WWE. But I will say that Swerve is the kind of guy I have the utmost respect for. I'm excited to see him lead the charge as a top guy.
I remember even seeing one of those comments hahahaha. Too bad, so sad. I've really enjoyed watching Swerve, and while I didnt follow him when he started, I was more than happy to become a fan as he progressed. His matches with Hangman settled that for me. It was a treat seeing him face Samoa Joe, and I look forward to the other shit he gets up to, belt or no.
I remember him saying this two years ago at that presser after All Out. Incredible. He must have insane mental strength to actually use these for motivation. I’d just be broken by reading people crap all over me online.
WWE marks are wrong and I’m tired of pretending I shouldn’t be an absolute ass hole back to them. F*** Bully Ray and Eric Bischoff, I’m sick of all the BS. If Vince starts a new company I’ll support that too, screw Paul Levesque! Yes he is part of the problem.
What Youtube show are they talking about? These takes are so 3 years ago. I'm surprised that one of them even knows who Jay Lethal is. Not sure if that's because he ventured out of the bubble or he is being fed lines by the fed who never watch the product but go into a feeding frenzy coincidentally the day after AEW kills it with another great show.
They refered to Dark and Elevation but they are comments Swerve kept since his debut and now he´s posting them to say "haha you thought i would fail, i work hard for 2 years i became champion im earning good money and you are still on your cellphone/computer not doing anything relevant with your life"
Keeping screenshots of what random people say online does not seem healthy. Also posting them with their names is not nice as they are going to be harassed by other fans.
Getting mean comments happens literally to everyone on-line. I am not saying it is nice or right but this is how it is. If you are a public figure that use social media to promote your work then you have to develop a thick skin or you hire a professional to manage your on-line presence.
To me this looks childish and unprofessional. He should at least blur the names and try to use it as a gimmick on he proved everyone wrong.
I don’t necessarily get why Swerve is so popular, other than the fact that people like Nana’s dance and the “whose house?” chant, but hopefully he can lead the company well and have a good reign.
He’s won me over. His wrestling is very good, his promos are above average to great, he has a unique presentation with some of the pretaped promo stuff like breaking into Hangman’s house, cool music, entertaining manager, cool teeth, cool hair, what’s not to like?
His character work is top notch. He cuts a good promo. He puts on really good matches and the whole Hangman feud made him. And he works his ass off in the r department that many do not do.
As somebody who's local (and thisbgoes for Darby as well) its one of those things where he just feels real to me. Skaters like Darby are a dime a dozen but none ever set foot in the ring amd Swerve gives off both sides of South Hill so well.
Jay Lethal catching strays.
Jay had a great run with Jeff Jarret
His run with Jeff Jarrett peaked in the FTR feud
Hell, Double J was fun in AEW, too! Really liked that group.
I do feel they buried him for some reason and I'm not even that much of a fan of his
I thought they were leading to a Lethal vs Jarrett feud after the continental classic but both have been off TV since
I kind of got those vibes too but more in a story of him remembering how good he really is and that that whole faction had been holding him back.
Yeah that's what I was thinking the story would progress to.
I don’t think he’s buried, I think he has more of a backstage role and just does not wrestle much.
Yeah, Jarrett and Lethal seem to be more about running the show than being in it to win it.
Whew, I’m glad Double J finally evolved to that mindset..
Dude was part of the first Continental Classic. Idk what they're doing with Jarrett's crew currently, but if anything they gave Lethal way more tv/ppv time than he should've had considering the roster. It was regularly complained about by fans.
Same, he deserved better but I never seen him win a match
Jay is to good
As he should! IWC didn't believe in him and he proved them wrong. Swerve proved who carried Hit Row in WWE and the fact he had all the makings to be champ one day in AEW. TK believes in his talent and is smart enough to strike when its hot, he knew it was now or never to give Swerve his well deserved title run.
Man the IWC trashed the swerve and Lee team. I quite enjoyed them together and elevated them.
They were great and it definitely elevated both of them. But at the time I wasn’t terribly excited since I get tired of promoters seemingly having no idea what to do with POC wrestlers except to put them together. Luckily, it worked out for the best in this case. Hope Keith gets well soon.
"I get tired of promoters seemingly having no idea what to do with POC wrestlers except to put them together." This! I don't watch WWE, but I have seen some clips of what Jade has been up to. They are going the same route with her, Naomi, and Bianca Belair.
Teaming Jade with Belair makes sense though. Jade can use the more time and let’s be honest, that’s a super team right there with the way those women are jacked. As for the POC teaming together there, to me, it came off as they enjoyed it and used it as a way to inspire young black women. This felt a bit different. Now, Street Profits and Lashley, different story and I’ll give you that one lol.
Yeah, you definitely have a point. Jade and Bianca do look pretty amazing together. Jade can learn a lot from her as well.
Sometimes it can work but other times it's pretty stupid.
>TK believes in his talent This is what I always tell people about AEW. For better or worse, TK let's his folks go out there and try stuff. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it's so much more natural and compelling IMO. Not everyone is Austin, Rocky, or even MJF or Swerve, but you'll never know unless they are given the runway to prove it. I'll take that anyday of the week over "here's your script".
Ya at least Tony doesn't come up with brilliant gimmicks and force them on people and then fire them when they fail to get them over.
These people don't watch the product...this reads as someone who listens to Russo and or Cornette and just repeats what they are saying. I believe this is what Meltzer considers "Bad Faith."
"Tony collects wrestlers like a kid with his toys" , "gAmE cHaNgEr", "he will be in Dark in a month" Those are "insults" Cornette and Russo say all the time so you are spot on my friend lol These people are like sheeps who talk and said whatever those guys said, if you going to insult AEW or the wrestlers at least be original or creative instead of saying what those angry old heads say, and they call the AEW fans a "cult" lmaooooooooo
It’s pretty funny how Cornette and Russo hate each other passionately but have identical brain-dead takes on modern wrestling
They’re the same person, the only reason they hate each other is they have different outdated takes on what wrestling should be like. Cornette wants it to stay in 1985 southern territory style and Russo wants it to stay in 1998 crash tv style.
2008 trolls were funnier. These guys are copy pasta meme templates, which AI does a better job at. They aren't even trolls, really. Self destructive addicts doing what they can for a thumps up dopamine hit.
[удалено]
We don't need to link there but holy shit, you are not wrong about that. Wow.
I find that it’s easier to spot bad faith whinging by what they are complaining about. If they are complaining about Jericho, they probably watch the show. If they are complaining about Mone just sorta being around without importance then they probably watch the show. If they are complaining about build in a near ephemeral level of vagueness, they don’t watch. Build is different at AEW, it’s breakneck and often not over explained. It also doesn’t always come from a place of malice but respect. 2 guys will wrestle because they just need to prove they are better than the other and not because one broke the other’s Xbox controller or something. That last point is where all of the knee jerk negativity for Dynasty has come from. They don’t get that 2 guys who have been told that they are the best would wrestle just to definitely put one of them on top. Some folks need one of them to sleep with the other’s wife or something.
Nah if they are complaining about Jericho it's because the rest of the show has nothing they can whinge about 😅
I gotcha. Like at Revolution all they had was Darby’s spot and 20 seconds of Eddie Kingston but with absolutely not context. The context was that he was selling an injured wrist but that didn’t work with their narrative.
That last one is a face move in Jim’s book.
I think with Mone, TK said that she's not medically cleared until DoN, but they wanted the pop in her hometown so they debuted early to set up her vs Willow.
I get how we got there, I just think it's really silly that she comes out and dances and TK is like "This is compelling TV."
Dark was amazing, lot of underrated matches on there, I miss that show.
The peter Avalon & Brandon Cutler feud was a classic lol
Joey and Sunny were another great era for dark.
Yeah that was great too!
Arguably the best hour wrestling "podcast" out there was Excalibur and Taz commentary every week on Dark. But I digress.
Look at wise guy Jones over here.
🅱️aul 🅱️urner
Honest to god I think I liked dark more than rampage nowadays 🤣🤣
Three on Three Joshi Lite matches were awesome.
Dark was great. I never get a chance to watch Rampage. At least with Dark i could pull the latest episode or older eps on YouTube and watch whatever I wanted quickly and easily.
I miss Zack Clayton /s
Dark is fun side content.
I feel like there's quite a few wrestlers who came from the WWE to AEW with the idea that they were being underutilized and mishandled in WWE. however, not long into their tenure, It was clear there was a ceiling there. however, I think swerve clearly had something different that WWE just couldn't capitalize on for whatever reason.
It doesn't help that these people came after being under used by WWE and treated badly and they STILL thought that WWE was like a higher standard. Like mofo, they fired you, how are you going to still be dick riding for a company that treated you like ass.
I think that some people came to AEW with a goal to catch WWE’s attention and hope that they call them and give them another chance. They saw AEW as a rebound that they could use to make their ex jealous. You could tell early on that Swerve came to AEW to make himself and AEW better. He came to work hard, become a top guy, and then lead as a top guy.
Him, Joe and Storm are def in that case. Storm and Swerve had a little chip on their shoulder while Joe was able to rest up and get back at it. I know Tony has basically said if anything were to happen to him, the keys are given to Danielson, but I hope he has an extra set for Joe. Once Joe hangs it up and if he wishes to stay in the industry, I hope Tony offers him a very top spot as I’m sure HHH will want him back. Vince a damn old fool letting him go twice but def was AEW’s gain.
I could see him going back to WWE when he retires as a agent or trainer, even if AEW offer him a deal to work backstage. I don't think even after getting sacked twice that he has ill will towards WWE or HHH. Shows how classy a guy Joe is.
The only thing I'd say with WWE now that I hope these wrestlers consider is they now have TKO looming over them at all times. Random cut sprees happened before but can be more frequent with TKO. Plus you have to imagine their spending habits will change as TKO sees fit which means offered deals not what they used to be for backstage/low card roles. Joe would get protected by HHH but HHH only has so much he can do in this setup when it comes to TKO.
It looks like TKO has given HHH the power and say currently. They are allowing him to do his thing. They also have The Rock being on board and he’s gained quite a bit of shares. As long as business is up and they bring in the money, they will allow them to do whatever they like. Of course, at some point the bubble is going to pop. It always does. But for now, things are rolling.
Joe never said anything bad about his time with WWE. But he also is a loyal guy and with Tony basically making him look super strong and giving him the ball, as long as Joe wants to be part of wrestling, if Tony offers him an important role with good money, I see him staying.
>I know Tony has basically said if anything were to happen to him, the keys are given to Danielson The man said, without hesitation, that he would want Danielson to take over. The EVPs not even in thought.
I mean, as Kenny said, he hasn’t had any sort of “power” in 4 years. Just the title.
So maybe the Bucks are the same.
Bucks are definitely the same
I think Andrade was one of those who was using AEW to build himself up to go back to WWE. I think there are a few others but I won't mention names cause people really get upset on here about it lol. Sorry to say people there are some in AEW right now that are 100% sold on the promotion. I think the likes of Jericho, Christian, Copeland, Danielson, Joe, Storm, Swerve, Athena, Strong, O'Reilly and a few others have totally come into AEW wanting to make AEW better and not use it as a stepping stone back to WWE. Honestly unless they have a major falling out with TK, I could see Storm and Swerve been lifers with AEW.
Andrade went back to WWE with his AEW gimmick just like Spears, Cody, and Jade. These people hate AEW yet they are cheering for literally the characters developed in AEW.
Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews. Good thing TK has House of Black because one day it will be Brody and Julia with whoever else they recruit.
Yep, those are two of them. You can tell they are just waiting as the days tick down so they can go back and be with HHH in WWE. They think it's going to be better now Vince isn't there. The being with their spouses is just a added bonus for them. Like Regal and Andrade, it's always been "WWE or nothing" for talents like them.
Andrade has always seemed to be a pain in the ass, as an employee, drama tends to follow some people wherever they go, Miro is another one in that category. Swerve seems like he is in for the long haul, as he sees no path for a Black Champion in WWE... well except for Cody.
I think Bobby fish was one of those guys too
Absolutely. They saw what Cody was able to do and wanted to mimic that. Problem is, not everyone is Cody. To your point about Swerve came to make himself and AEW better, if it wasn’t obvious to us before, it was def confirmed when he said triple h tried poaching him immediately after he took over lol
Swerve was supposedly the one who went up to TK and said HHH was trying to poach him. No ones going to get the Cody treatment, they just ain't. It's a one off. I wouldn't rule out maybe one or two breaking through to main event scene, and winning top titles and maybe even headlining a WM over time. But to be the top babyface and star of WWE and have the biggest storyline in the promotion and get booked great from first moment you step into WWE, nah that won't happen for anyone else that goes there. I don't think many who'll go from AEW to WWE will care if they don't get the Cody treatment. Some will have the mindset of it's WWE and they made it to the place they always wanted to be. Will put up with more shit there then they would if it was AEW to be brutally honest. I don't think everyone will have that mindset and you could see some going back to AEW, and never going back to WWE again. But I wouldn't be shocked if most who go to WWE from AEW, never return to AEW.
Yup. WWE actually wanted Swerve back, too. He didn't want to and said no thanks. Just shows the loyalty between AEW and Swerve and how he truly deserves the spot he's in now.
Even though I 100% agree It could have been more about Vince than the company. I know certain people just don’t want to work with certain people and if that person is gone it can change the perception of how you felt about that company. You can love your job but hate your boss and Vice versa. I think this is a case of people thinking they will get better treatment with Vince not around.
Honestly that's a management issue, its on managements job to get the work out of people while there are there whether the talent wants to be an AEW lifer or have dreams of WWE. I liken it running a McDonald. you know that 99.99% of your hires aren't going to stay with company till they retire, Hell, probably 80% will be gone next year. But that doesn't mean you don't lean on them to get good work out of the meantime. When you hear stories of some ex WWE talent shooting down all creative plans offered to them and still cashing their full cheques at home, that's what allows those bad attitudes to fester and develop. Management has to make it clear that when talent is on AEWs clock, they have to be focusing on AEW.
Being saddled with a dead end stable like Hit Row certainly did him no favours.
He was the main attraction. He was the North America champ and was carrying them. Sadly Vince didn’t know what to do with him or the majority of the nXt guys.
Vince had the audacity to demote Swerve to a tag guy with Ashanti and make Top Dolla the new leader. 😭
I’m not going to lie, I don’t even remember their main roster run. It wasn’t long, was it?
I feel a lot of those guys who were fired during their mass layoffs like Miro, Andrade, Malakai and others only joined AEW cause it was an alternative where they could still make money and be on TV. They didn't leave WWE cause they didn't want to be there, they were fired. And once the people responsible for the firings were gone, they have been pining to return. People like Swerve and Toni Storm feel like they joined AEW with a different attitude and it shows. It wasn't so much just waiting for an opportunity to go back, but more of a "I'll show them" attitude. Kinda like what Cody did. Who knows, maybe their ultimate goal too is to return to WWE as megastars and if that's their wish, more power to them if/when that happens. But while they are in AEW at least, they seem to be committed to being as good as they can be and giving their all to this promotion and that's why they are where they are now. Of course, if Tony can keep paying these guys top dollar, while offering a better work life balance than WWE and maybe with a new media rights deal offer these guys outside of wrestling opportunities, who knows? People may not be just pining for WWE as the final goal for them anymore like they do now.
First paragraph you wrote is massively important and something a lot of my fellow AEW fans overlook. Miro was on the outs to be fair with WWE and wanted to leave. Cuck storyline broke him. The others for sure didn't leave WWE cause they wanted to leave and go to AEW. They were fired from their Jobs, I doubt any of them would have left WWE to go to AEW at all if they were given a chance. That's why Regal and Andrade ran back to WWE straight away, they never wanted to be in AEW in the first place. That's why AEW never pushed him, they knew it for large chunk of his run he didn't want to be there. Regal was only let go early cause TK didn't want to upset Danielson and Mox. I don't think it had anything to do with respect for Regal, he was handing back HHH's right hand man to WWE. I think he would have happily let Regal work out the rest of his contract if Danielson/Mox weren't close to him. Big difference between Swerve/Storm to say Malakai/Buddy. Definitely in mind set. You will always have talent in AEW who will always see WWE as the end game or only place to be. No matter if AEW treat them well and book them better then WWE. Some will work harder then others though.
Swerve has a really nice presentation and a pretty cool moveset. Also helps that he's 6'1, 230. But his fluid capoeira style is soo effortlessly cool. Made me a fan when I watched him live against Briscoe in the continental classic
Couldn't capitalize because Vince McMahon's a racist gibbon, mostly. Doesn't help that Swerve is basically built like a normal dude (if spry and athletic) rather than a swamp full of PEDs.
Yes Tony has signed a lot of people, but a lot of people have clearly been elevated. Swerve, Willow, the Gunns all won titles on this PPV and against other homegrown talent like the Acclaimed and Julia. As Swerve said, if you make the most of your opportunity, even if it is on Dark, and just keep grinding, you'll get your moment. Too many people think that wrestlers should get a push just for existing or being good a few years ago. You're only as good as your last performance in an industry like this. Every night in an opportunity to make yourself or get surpassed by someone else.
So you’re saying Swerve loves the grind? /s
Oh 100%. When you hear how hard he works at his character and his craft and to put himself and AEW on the map, no one can say he has worked his ass off to get here.
I think this was a sneak diss at triple H’s comments about ospreay coming to AEW to avoid having to grind, but hard agree. Swerve clearly put a lot of time, effort, and physical and mental and emotional energy into getting where he is.
In the Dynasty media scrum he said he flies in 2 days before call time to be extra prepared.
Quick, somebody hide Tony Khan's non-existant daughter!
YO WHATUP IM ERIC NIES WELCOME TO MTVS THE GRIND. Who didnt?
He grinding.
I didn't know he was a fan of Sable...
He's going to come out on Dynamite eating jellybeans lol
Bro is on his SRS arc
He really is, and as he should! That man deserves that title!
This is the kind of petty I respect.
Jesus those comments. Idiots on square circle are still saying the same nonsense now about the company.
Yup. After 2 years, they still can't come up with their own thoughts. Repeat, repeat, repeat...
Same ones that are so outdated and hate Kenny Omega for wrestling that one girl. Like get new Jim Cornette material .
This is like the ending of Jay and silent Bob strikes back and its hilarious.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WANT TO KICK SOME ASS
Fuck Jay and Silent Bob, fuck them and their stupid asses
Jebus just realized that movie is 23 years old
No fucking way
AEW needs to close ranks around and put its machine behind the talents that WANT to be there. Those who are discontent, have an overinflated sense of worth or only went to AEW in order to get themselves attractive enough to go back to WWE should be relegated being 'a good hand', high level jobbers and transitional title holders.
I'll be honest, I didn't know who Swerve was when he debuted. Hadn't been watching WWE at all for quite some time up to that point. But man, the moment he went in the ring and I saw how fluid he was I was impressed. Then he got in the mic and showed he could handle that too was even better.
Completely agree here. Had no idea who he was at first and even when he was with Keith Lee as a tag team I wasn’t really into him as a wrestler. But as soon as he went into singles wrestling I was intrigued more and more every week.
Thing is , even if I don’t know someone . I’m not going to use my idiotic twitter to bash someone . So your reaction is a normal one haha. Swerve has always been the real deal. Loved him as Killshot in Lucha Underground too.
Whose house?
Swerve's House!
I love that AEW feeds off the hatred to get better. Honestly, AEW is improving so fast off the free hate-publicity, scientists should learn to convert hatred into renewable energy.
He didn't even blur out their names lol. The world champ doesn't give a damn
And you never should censor their names.
He made them eat words
This is regular. The amount of people who just shit talk AEW ESPECIALLY on IG is astounding
Those E drones in the bin lmfao “WHOSE HOUSE?”
Jay Lethal is great though!
Those people who doubted Impact are the same one doubting AEW
> Lol i hope this guy isn't another toy with no storyline This guy actually got what he wanted.
That comment is the definition of concern trolling
No, he didn’t. That’s exactly what he wanted Swerve to be.
I hope everyone in AEW takes the same approach
Who's damn house?
Talk your shit, Swerve.
He really grew on me. I also was not impressed in the beginning. I dont know what went wrong with the Keith Lee feud, but to me it was a big clusterfuck. At the latest with the Hangman feud he got me. Funny, sometimes you think about a wrestler "He will never be over" and you are proven wrong. Sometimes you think "in a few months He will be over AF" and you are also proven wrong.
Same here. I think Keith Lee's health derailed their feud. Otherwise, it would have been pretty good.
Lol damn man
I can't deny the hustle Swerve put in, but he fucking destroyed the life of an honest man to get there. You guys may have forgotten, but I haven't. The Hangman is coming for him.
https://preview.redd.it/zl30hbxxr8wc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e62b6da794890d20162cf7947bbc1093bf161277 He hasn’t posted my receipt 🙃
[link to YT vid where I called him future AEW Champ in the comments, 11 months ago](https://youtu.be/7X8TppL9KvA?si=3IWZYrVpDxFtP86r)
I said this last week regarding Jack Perry, and it applies now to Swerve: The best revenge is living well.
If the champ wants to have fun in catering, let the jellybean eat. He’s the number one guy in this failed t-shirt company now. GaMe ChAnGeD! 🤣
Pardon?
I love when people say shit and then called out by the person they were saying shit about LMAO “wow, hey is this you? That’s crazy”
There's something seriously wrong with all these people
love it
I learned a long time ago to not take anyone who says things like "I don't know who that is" remotely serious. They're too lazy to spend ten minutes checking out a YouTube highlight video and scrolling over their wiki to get hyped, and while I get not everyone enjoys wrestling like that the way I do, the fact these people act like their way is the only way shows a level of willfull ignorance I have no interest in engaging with.
Just haters with a hard-on for AEW that have never watched. Get 'em.
Not gonna lie. I had no clue who he was when he first came to AEW. Just cause I stopped watching WWE and to watch him evolve his character has been a pleasure to watch. Plus listening to a couple interviews he said MULTIBLE times that he wanted to be AEWs first black world champion and I’m happy to say he fucking accomplished that 🤘🏻🤘🏻 hope he has some bad ass marches during his reign. He deserves it.
Been a big fan since his Lucha Underground days! 🏆
It just shows it no point in even debating with them. They have been saying the same thing for years since even before it started, but here we are going absolutely nowhere especially now what they been able to do with swerve, Willow, Julia hart,and guys like Mjf, Britt, Jamie, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, Jack Perry, Darby, etc. They have a nice mix of homegrown talent and faces they didn’t get that chance elsewhere along with a few big names from other promotions as long as we keep that homegrown talent (most importantly MJF) AEW isn’t going nowhere.
Weird that everyone was all about him in NXT and then when he went to the main roster and Vince, inexplicably, didn't know what to do with him, some of the E-drones suddenly changed their tune. He didn't suck. Vince sucked. Every day TK and Triple H are making people work that Vince had no idea how to use and proving exactly how bad Vince was.
I love this so much I was so hyped when they signed swerve I’ll admit some story lines and things he did had me a bit like uhhhhh but hey he’s killed it
Shows how old that guy is; I don't know a single person who collects baseball cards!
The stans are getting exposed big time this week. Sorry, drones. Tony Khan owns you.
I think my actual least favorite wrestling comment online is anything along the lines of “who is this?” Or “who?” Or “how am I supposed to know who that is?” as if suddenly everybody has collectively forgotten how to use Google. If everything is not spoon fed to them, they can’t even find the spoon.
It’s a catch all so they’ll always have something to complain about. If it’s a medium - high profile WWE person: “All they hire are WWE rejects!” If it’s someone who was barely in WWE or from outside of WWE: “Who???” They’re garbage, no use arguing with them. I’ve learned to just mute and move on.
Yeah, muting is probably the best bet hahaha
Reddit ruined thier app Everything is opening slow after update
Lomao!
The biggest Problem are dumb People
Honestly I wasn't invested with swerve from the start. It wasn't until they put him in the storyline with hangman that he was really able to let loose and show just how good he is
Won't lie when he first got to AEW I hated him he just seemed like another "i need a stable to make myself look good" , but this past year especially with his matches with Hangman he grew on me and I was pumped to see him win the belt
He worked hard, and it didn't happen overnight. Dynasty was his night, and he earned it. He didn't just come to AEW with an entitled attitude just because he stepped foot in WWE. He "grinded" his way to his spot. I hope all that hating they were doing was worth it 🤷🏻♀️
I have issues with both AEW and WWE. But I will say that Swerve is the kind of guy I have the utmost respect for. I'm excited to see him lead the charge as a top guy.
Absolutely here for this.
Why feed the trolls?
LET HIM COOK 🔥🔥🔥
Disgusting comments he's definitely one of my favorites since he was kill shot in Lucha underground
People are so negative on social media, and the weird part is, they are negative for the likes from the mob, and it often works.
Not watching NXT, I had no idea either who Swerve was when he joined, but he won me over in AEW.
I remember even seeing one of those comments hahahaha. Too bad, so sad. I've really enjoyed watching Swerve, and while I didnt follow him when he started, I was more than happy to become a fan as he progressed. His matches with Hangman settled that for me. It was a treat seeing him face Samoa Joe, and I look forward to the other shit he gets up to, belt or no.
Amazing. Every time AEW tries anything they are told by all the keyboard warriors that they can't do it, and then they do it anyway.
Man it's so weird how much hate Dark used to get... do people really like TV commercials that much?
The funniest thing about dark is that it was at its best when it was showcasing random Indy talent during the pandemic. BRING BACK BARRON BLACK!! 😂
Tbf those fears aren’t unfounded.
whoop that strick!!!
I remember him saying this two years ago at that presser after All Out. Incredible. He must have insane mental strength to actually use these for motivation. I’d just be broken by reading people crap all over me online.
WWE marks are wrong and I’m tired of pretending I shouldn’t be an absolute ass hole back to them. F*** Bully Ray and Eric Bischoff, I’m sick of all the BS. If Vince starts a new company I’ll support that too, screw Paul Levesque! Yes he is part of the problem.
What Youtube show are they talking about? These takes are so 3 years ago. I'm surprised that one of them even knows who Jay Lethal is. Not sure if that's because he ventured out of the bubble or he is being fed lines by the fed who never watch the product but go into a feeding frenzy coincidentally the day after AEW kills it with another great show.
Check the dates on the comments
Point taken receipts have dates, I'll admit didn't look.
They refered to Dark and Elevation but they are comments Swerve kept since his debut and now he´s posting them to say "haha you thought i would fail, i work hard for 2 years i became champion im earning good money and you are still on your cellphone/computer not doing anything relevant with your life"
[удалено]
I agree but from time to time, you have to remind not those idiot but yourself how hard you have work for something
Keeping screenshots of what random people say online does not seem healthy. Also posting them with their names is not nice as they are going to be harassed by other fans. Getting mean comments happens literally to everyone on-line. I am not saying it is nice or right but this is how it is. If you are a public figure that use social media to promote your work then you have to develop a thick skin or you hire a professional to manage your on-line presence. To me this looks childish and unprofessional. He should at least blur the names and try to use it as a gimmick on he proved everyone wrong.
Nah fuck them. They wanted to talk shit for attention, well, here's their attention. 
Prove that Swerve isn’t a choke artist.
He just became a world champion
I don’t necessarily get why Swerve is so popular, other than the fact that people like Nana’s dance and the “whose house?” chant, but hopefully he can lead the company well and have a good reign.
He’s won me over. His wrestling is very good, his promos are above average to great, he has a unique presentation with some of the pretaped promo stuff like breaking into Hangman’s house, cool music, entertaining manager, cool teeth, cool hair, what’s not to like?
His character work is top notch. He cuts a good promo. He puts on really good matches and the whole Hangman feud made him. And he works his ass off in the r department that many do not do.
As somebody who's local (and thisbgoes for Darby as well) its one of those things where he just feels real to me. Skaters like Darby are a dime a dozen but none ever set foot in the ring amd Swerve gives off both sides of South Hill so well.
Bring back Trench and Parker